Thinking like a child...

Today's coverage of the Bluffton Elementary School students' writing brought a smile to my face. And as I read through the snippets of those selected, it made me realize that these young adults - children - share some of the very same thoughts and beliefs that I hold dear, along with many other adults.
These children stated it clearly..."Go on and be an environmental steward."
Every day, I see along the sides of roads and rivers pollution. Every day on the road, I see the black smoke belching from exhaust pipes...the plastic bags someone used to carry groceries...cans, bottles, empty plastic containers...run down unsafe buildings.
Some people badmouth us, the children and I, who share the belief that there is much more we can do to be better stewards of this blue-green planet we call home. Some people think that we are detrimental to capitalism; that we are responsible for high costs of certain commodities; that the science we've used and relied on to base our beliefs on is false.
With this new year, I've resolved to not get dragged into debates or discussions with those who genuinely do not care about the issue at hand. Another fine trait that children exhibit. There's no sense in trying to talk to someone when their minds have been made up; no sense in bringing facts and figures into play when those things will simply fall upon deaf ears; no use in pointing out the past to those who seemingly live there and are quite content to do so with their blinders firmly in place.
Reading what those students wrote made me happy...happy to know that there will be others behind me, and people like me, to keep up this belief that we ARE stewards of this planet...and we have a lot of work to do thanks to those who look at this planet as nothing more than their personal disposal and a means to get what they can regardless of the price others may have to pay in the future.
If this is truly childish thinking, then I am glad to be in that group. I've read and heard what some "grown-ups" have stated about the planet and the environment...and I want no part of that group. We, the children and I, have seen what they can do.
Reduce...reuse...recycle. Thankfully, some of us get it.